Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Ali Hassanpur

About

Age: 48
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: June 15, 2009
Location of Killing: Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Arbitrary shooting
Charges: Unknown charge

About this Case

He worked hard, reflecting the pride he took in his family.  His accountancy was in Tehran, where he also participated in a demonstration opposing the presidential election results.

Information about Mr. Ali Hassanpur’s killing was taken from an interview with his wife on Rooz Online on April 25, 2010, and eyewitness reports sent to Rooz Online on April 27, 2010, responding to Mr. Hassanpur’s wife’s demand to clarify the incident. The information regarding the shooting by the Ashura Basij Base on June 15, 2009, was taken from an interview by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation (ABF) with an eyewitness who was present at the scene.

Mr. Hassanpur, son of Ja’far, was born on March 5, 1961. He was an accountant and had two children. According to his wife, he was a hard working man and worked two shifts. He loved his family and his country and was a good human being. On June 15, 2009, he was shot in the head and died on Azadi Street in Tehran. According to eye-witness reports, he was shot near the Basij Base of Ashura, Battalion 117.

On June 15, 2009, a demonstration to protest the result of the presidential election took place in Tehran. Several people were killed or injured by paramilitary forces of the Basij as the demonstration came to an end and people began to disperse. The Basij forces of Ashura, Battalion 117, opened fire on protesters from the rooftop and through the windows of their building located at the beginning of the Mohammad Ali Jenah Highway on the north side of Azadi Square. Video clips of these shootings, posted on YouTube, showed tens of protesters in front of this Basij building chanting slogans.

Direct clashes between people and Basij forces were not seen in these clips. However, the videos clearly showed the Basij members shooting at people from the rooftop and through the windows; and gunshot noises could be heard as well as scenes of civilians moving injured people. During an interview with the ABF, an eyewitness present at the time of these shootings by Basij forces stated:

“The crowd was so huge that a large demonstration took place everywhere people went. Around 7:00 p.m., I walked north from Azadi Square towards the Ariashahr neighborhood. The crowd was chanting slogans… We went far away from Azadi Square. The number of military forces on the streets – wearing multi-colored clothes – gradually increased. Black clothed agents were also present on the streets. There was a limited number of police. We walked for about 800 meters or a kilometer when I heard a noise. People said it was the sound of shooting. We turned around. It was not evident where the noise came from… I heard the sound of a machine gun shooting a round of bullets and then heard single shots being fired. The crowd pointed towards one place. I saw a building that was crowded… On the rooftop, Basij members were moving about, but it was not very clear what was going on. I turned back and saw a young boy who was shot in his side and was bleeding severely.” This eyewitness emphasized that people nearby the Basij building were not armed. The exact number of victims in this incident is unknown.

According to his wife, on the day of the incident, Mr. Hassanpur participated in a demonstration protesting the result of the presidential election. According to reports sent to Rooz Online by eyewitnesses on April 27, 2009, “There were shots coming from the Basij building. Some people were shot and we were all running. We were running from the shooting when we heard a shot behind us. When we turned back, we saw that three individuals were shot. One of them was Ali.” Two other eyewitnesses confirmed that three were shot. According to one of them, “Mr. Hassanpur, whose picture was published as one of the first victims [of this incident], was shot in his face. He fell down, moving his fingers for an instant, and died quickly.” Another eyewitness who, along with others, carried Mr. Hassanpur’s body, stated: “I did not see how he died. When I saw people trying to move him, I helped. We carried him until a taxi took him away along with another person who was also shot. But I don’t know where and what happened next.”

The body of Mr. Hassanpur was given to the coroner three days after the incident on June 18, 2009. Authorities did not offer any explanation to the family regarding these three days. According to Rooz Online, on April 25, 2009, his naked body was given to the coroner and identified as an unknown person.

Mr. Hassanpur’s body was given to his family 104 days later. Mr. Hassanpur’s wife stated that: “A bullet hit his head. It entered below his right eye, at his cheek bone, and exited above his left ear. An autopsy was done but I objected since the bullet had [clearly] hit his head. But they [the officials] stated that this was routine and they had to perform the autopsy. In the morgue, Ali’s body was naked except for the knee brace which he wore for knee pain.” 

Officials’ Reaction

On October 12, 2009, during an official ceremony, the Commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran confirmed that people were shot at by the Basij forces in front of the Basij Base of Ashura, Battalion 117 (ISNA).

According to Mr. Ali Hassanpur’s wife, authorities denied the family any news of his death and did not return his body for 104 days. During this time, the family went to the Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Criminal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Intelligence Police, Evin prison, the Kahrizak coroner, the Parliament, and various hospitals but did not obtain a clear answer. Finally, at the Criminal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the family was informed that there were three unidentified bodies at the Kahrizak coroner's office [or morgue] and was given an official letter to go to the office. However, even though the family saw the letter and Mr. Hassanpur’s picture, officials of the coroner's office stated that: “The body is not here and has been buried.” When a judge from the Criminal Public Prosecutor’s Office intervened, the family was allowed to see three unidentified bodies and identify the body of Mr. Hassanpur (Rooz Online on April 25, 2009).

According to Mr. Ali Hassanpur’s wife, authorities refused to return his clothes and personal belongings to his family. His body was transferred to the Rasul Hospital for the first time; however, there was documentation of this transfer to the hospital (Rooz Online on April 25, 2009).

Authorities tried to convince Mr. Hassanpur’s family to receive blood money and withdraw their complaint. According to Mr. Ali Hassanpur’s wife, authorities told her: “You have two children. Get the blood money.” Also, before various occasions such as the traditional fire festival, state agents went to their house and warned them not to go outside (Rooz Online on April 25, 2009).

Family

Mr. Hassanpur’s family saw his body in a picture on June 17, 2009, two days after he was shot. This picture was shown to them by a friend who saw the picture on the internet. According to Mr. Hassanpur’s wife, the family was not sure if he had been killed or injured. They tried unsuccessfully to find any information about him.

The family filed a complaint at the Criminal Public Prosecutor’s Office and demanded clarification of the case, identification of the murderer and those who ordered it the shootings. They refused to withdraw their complaint or close the case, despite the offer made by authorities to provide blood money.

Mr. Hassanpur’s wife stated: “We follow up [on his case] constantly. But they [officials] don’t offer any response. We are not going to drop the case. We want to know why they killed Ali. Why is it possible for someone shoot him so easilyon a street and yet nobody takes any responsibility? Who killed him and who ordered the killing? They [authorities] must tell us what crime was committed by my husband and others who were killed in streets in broad daylight?” She asked the United Nations to follow up on her husband’s death and the deaths of others (Rooz Online on April 25, 2009).

Background

Election returns from Iran’s June 12th, 2009, presidential election declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected with 62.63 percent of the vote. Following the announcement, citizens disputing these official results demonstrated in the streets. Text messaging services were disrupted starting at 11:00 p.m. on the night before the election and remained unavailable for nearly three weeks, until July 1st. On Election Day, the deputy chief of Iranian police announced a ban on any gathering of presidential candidates’ supporters throughout the country. The same evening, security forces made a “show of strength,” increasing their presence in Tehran’s public squares to “reinforce security at polling stations.” Officials at election headquarters began reporting results soon after midnight, despite a statement from the Minister of the Interior that the first returns would not be announced until after the morning prayer (around 4:00 a.m.).

Many supporters of other presidential candidates came out into the streets on June 13th, once the results were made public, to protest what they believed to be a fraudulent election. Candidates Mir Hossein Musavi, Mehdi Karubi, and Mohsen Reza’i, Ahmadinejad’s competitors in the race, contested the election, alleging many instances of fraud. They filed complaints with the Council of Guardians, the constitutional body charged with vetting candidates before elections take place and approving the results afterwards, requesting an annulment and calling for a new election. Before the Council of Guardians could review their claims, however, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, congratulated Ahmadinejad on his re-election. In the meantime, many people active in Karubi’s and Musavi’s campaigns were arrested.

On June 15th, unprecedented demonstrations filled the streets of central Tehran, in which an estimated three million protestors participated, according to statements attributed to the mayor of Tehran. As the demonstrations were ending, paramilitary forces attacked the marchers, injuring and killing several people. To prevent such news from being broadcast, the Iranian government expelled foreign journalists from the country and banned news agencies from reporting on the events. Over the next three days, protesters took part in peaceful demonstrations in Tehran. The repression entered a new phase on June 19th after Ayatollah Khamenei’s Friday sermon, in which he announced his support for Ahmadinejad and warned protestors that they were responsible for any disorder and its consequences. Amnesty International stated that the speech gave “legitimacy to police brutality.” The next day and thereafter, police and plainclothes paramilitary groups attacked the protesters. Public gatherings of any kind were declared illegal, and police, motorcycle-riding special units wearing black uniforms and helmets, and plainclothes agents brutally enforced this restriction.

Individuals in civilian clothing, commonly referred to as plainclothes forces, are used in the Islamic Republic to disrupt political and trade union activities, student events and gatherings, electoral initiatives, and protests. Armed with sticks and clubs, and sometimes with chains, knives, batons, or firearms, they emerge when the state decides to suppress dissent. These plainclothes forces move about freely, violently beating protesters and arresting them, while the police passively look on or actively cooperate with them.

There is little information on the command structure and organization of such groups, whose members wear ordinary clothing rather than official uniforms and may be affiliated with the ministry of information, influential political groups, or the armed forces. Following the post-election demonstrations in June 2009, pictures of some plainclothes agents were posted on internet websites. Internet users helped to identify some of them and provided evidence that these individuals were affiliated with the Basij paramilitary groups, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, and state intelligence forces. On September 16, 2009, a deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps of the Province of Tehran confirmed the active and decisive role of Basij forces in the repression of the demonstrations, saying, “Basijis, through their presence in recent events, have blinded the eyes of the conspirators, and they should be appreciated… The enemies of Islam wanted to make the air dusty and to exploit the recent events, but thank God, through the enlightenment of the Honorable Leader we were victorious against this conspiracy.” He also emphasized, “The zealous youth of [the] Basij, believers in the Guardianship of the Jurisprudent, are the second and third generations of the Revolution. They have been successful in this stage and victorious on this battlefield.”

When personal property was damaged during the protests, government authorities and state-run radio and television programs accused the demonstrators of vandalism and justified the repression. At the same time, however, footage posted online showed security forces destroying and damaging property on side streets and in uncongested areas away from the protests. Moreover, in a public gathering in Tehran on October 20th, the chief of Iranian police conceded that police had destroyed and damaged property and accepted responsibility for it.

The precise number of citizens injured, killed, or disappeared in the post-election violence is not known. According to various reports, there were hundreds of victims in demonstrations throughout the country. More than seventy names have been reported. It is said that officials have threatened victims’ family members, demanding their silence and that they refrain from giving interviews. Reports also allege that returning a victim’s body to a family has been made conditional upon their agreement to change the cause of death listed on the coroner’s certificate to that of a heart attack or some other natural cause — thus foregoing the right to file a complaint — as well as the family's agreement not to hold memorial services for the loved one.

According to government statements, more than 4,000 people were arrested throughout Iran in the weeks following June 12th. Many have been held at the Kahrizak Detention Center, where prisoners’ rights and minimum hygiene standards were typically ignored. Numerous reports of violence, including the torture and rape of detainees, have been published. State reports and testimonies confirm that a number of detainees at Kahrizak died in custody due to beatings, difficult and unbearable prison conditions, and torture.

Correct/ Complete This Entry